April 2010 Blog Posts (23)

I've been reflecting recently on the last 30 years or so of wargaming--miniatures, boardgames, and electronics alike--and the important innovations over that period. Has gaming become qualitatively better, or are we reinventing the wheel? With regard to the latter, there's no value judgement implied. It might be that the "wheel" already works well enough, and certainly no reason to innovate for innovation's sake alone!

As I was going over the nominees for this year's Charlies, I was drawn to the awards for people who are involved in bringing us the games we love so much. Of course, some of the names I hoped to see aren't there now because they've won these various awards in the past and are therefore not eligible. But they continue to bring us some stellar designs. Certainly there is no shortage of design and developer talent out there and the quality of the goods we see today is light years beyond what we… Continue

Turn 5 saw the last units from the LC's disembark. The Marines were able to finally root out the last squad from the remaining buildings, and technically have won the scenario by the end of turn 5. However, the hill at the back of the island still has a large group of dug-in Japanese defenders. The one hold-out in the Japanese bunker has decided to move back through the jungle to positions on the hill with its MMG. The death toll so far has been tremendous. The Marines have lost 8 squads…

The Marines have now consolidated on the tip of the island, and are pressing forward to clear and occupy the buildings on the island. On turn 4, there is one building left to clear, but a combined effort roots the Japanese squad from the building. The Japanese small arms and MG fire still takes its toll on the Marines. Next turn the remaining Marines in the landing craft will disembark and aid in the occupation efforts. The photo below is the situation at the end of turn…

Well, as in war and war games, the tide can turn in a second. The Marines were able to withstand some withering fire from the Japanese entrenched machineguns and small arms fire. They were able to establish a beachead with a couple of worn-down platoons. One squad threw a satchel charge and took out a couple of Japanese squads, while leader-directed MG fire did some damage on some of the forward defenders. More landings will occur on turns 4 and possibly 5. The Marines may be able to secure…

The Marines had a tough time on turn 2. The Japanese with heavy gun fire and well-placed machineguns were able to eliminate 4 Marine squads and a BAR gunner, leaving only one sole NCO to hold the beach. ATS is bloody, but even more so with a beach landing. Hopefully turn 3 will turn out better for the Jarheads.…

I love ASL, and I am really beginning to love ATS. Don't call me a heretic, but I think I like ATS better than ASL. I have converted one of the cooler ASL mini-campaign games to ATS, and am playing it to see what it is like. This mini-campaign came from the ASL Journal 93b. I enlarged the map to accomodate the larger ATS counters. I will post the converted scenarios and campaign game later. Since I have been watching the HBO series Pacific, I have been in a Pacific mood, so I decided to see…

According to the European Union, going on vacation is now a human right. In order to assure that access to travel for the poor and disadvantaged is not infringed, the EU will implement a scheme to subsidize their vacations, with European taxpayers footing about 30% of the cost.

North Korea has created its own homegrown personal computer operating system. Dubbed Red Star, it is based on Linux, possibly acquired via China, but includes versions of Microsoft's Office applications. It also comes with the Firefox search engine, and not coincidentally has the North Korean government web site as its… Continue

I would imagine that any grognards would have at least heard of this historic magazine. Old issues are very hard to come by, and those issues that you do find are expensive, well read and will probably have the game missing.

Long-time Soviet ambassador to the United States Anatoly Dobrynin died on Tuesday, aged ninety. He first arrived in Washington in 1962, and was instrumental in the negotiations that ended the Cuban Missile Crisis, forming a back-channel communications channel with Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy.… Continue